


Just To Turn It Around

by TheSunshinydays



Category: Blaseball (Video Game)
Genre: Ghost Hunter AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Swearing, does it count as major character death if hes been a ghost for a year, i feel like no but im not sure, its just two dudes roadtripping but one of them is a sad ghost possessing the radio, lots of corn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:42:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSunshinydays/pseuds/TheSunshinydays
Summary: No snippet from the fic, sorry. This is just Mike trying to convince Derrick that he's allowed to mourn himself on the anniversary of his own death while they're driving through Iowa.
Relationships: Mike Townsend/Derrick Krueger
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	Just To Turn It Around

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone i love ghost hunter au so much. ill edit this later to include credit to the absolute legends on tumblr who are perpetuating this this au but i really need to go on a run so i dont have time to sift through ficlets at the moment. edit: back from my run! big thanks to kentuckycorpsereviver, waveridden, rogueumpire, leonstamatis, socksmaybe, and catboydecide who i believe have all written previous ghost hunter au stuff which influenced this. i have post run brain so i feel like ive forgotten someone but i have no idea, if i have please let me know.

“You realize you’re allowed to be fucked up about this, right?” Mike says to the empty passenger seat beside him. He briefly wonders, as he has before, how odd he would look if someone else could see him talking to thin air. Glancing briefly to the right, Mike only sees the endless Iowa corn, but he knows Derrick can hear him.

“It makes sense to be upset. Also, you’re not stealthy.” The radio’s volume is turned down, and a man quietly implores listeners to take advantage of his once in a lifetime car deal. Mike continues, “I happen to know the internet and radio broadcast copyright guidelines, and no station is going to play ‘Born Under Punches’ more than once an hour.”

The car salesman’s voice crescendos without Mike touching the volume dial. It’s so easy to ignore what happened sometimes. Derrick is normally so conscious of looking alive and making light of all the ghost shit, like dying is a funny story to tell at parties and not an existence changing event. It makes the contrast between most days and bad days starker. Today is a bad day, for good reason.

“Derrick, come on just listen for a sec,” Mike says, exasperated. He turns the volume back down, keeping his eyes on the road, “I know you’ve been playing sad songs between commercial breaks since I got in the car. You don’t have to be sneaky about it.”

The salesman threatens to start yelling again, but Mike grabs the volume and holds it in place.

“I get that we play pretend when the cameras are on and when they’re off you joke about it like it’s not a big deal, but we were both there. A year ago to the day you drowned in a fucking swamp. And I get that you probably can’t manifest right now and even if you could you wouldn’t want to talk about it, but...”

He takes his hand off the volume dial for a moment. It doesn’t turn, so Mike adjusts the rearview mirror to point where he thinks Derrick’s head might be.

“Man, you don’t have to pretend to be alright, you know? Today of all days you should play whatever sad songs you want. You don’t have to act like you’re not here or not hurt. Not on my account.”

The commercials fade to soft white noise.

Mike drives.

Seconds pass, then minutes, then quarter hours.

Mike obviously can’t see Derrick, which is fine. But that means he also can’t read Derrick. He has no clue if this is pissed off static or mournful static or pensive static. So instead of trying to figure it out, he tries to find anything to look at while he drives. Unfortunately, it’s all just corn. If he’s lucky, there’s a sign for Dairy Queen or McDonalds off an exit. But usually corn. 

The static silent treatment continues.

 _The vibes in here are heinous. I can’t deal with this_.

He pulls over, off the highway, and stops the car. _This is probably a bad idea._ Phone in hand, Mike pulls up a lyric site and searches for one particular song. One that everyone has heard at some point but hasn’t been popular in years. Possibly the cheesiest, most self-indulgent “I’m sad” song of all time. _Probably best to go from the second verse. Closer to the chorus that way._

Mike starts to sing:

“You stand in the line just to hit a new low.”

(White noise to abrupt silence.)

“You’re faking a smile with the coffee to go.”

(The “HAHAHAHAHA” from Gorillaz’ “Feel Good Inc.” blares through the speakers).

“You tell me your life’s been way off line,”

( “Oh. My. Go[d],” says an edited Usher sound clip).

“You’re falling to pieces everytime,

And I don’t need no carryin’ on-”

Mike stops, and looks over to the passenger seat, eyebrows raised in silent question.

A moment passes.

When the pop piano hits, it’s loud enough to vibrate the van.

(Cause you had a bad day 

You're taking one down 

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie-)

And somewhere in the aether, Derrick works at a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thanks for reading! as always feel free to stop by in the comments to say what you liked or give advice/constructive criticism. songs referenced are "born under punches" by talking heads, "feel good inc." by gorillaz, "O.M.G." by Usher (WHICH FOR THE RECORD I CANT BELIEVE IT SAYS GOSH INSTEAD OF GOD, IMAGINE UR TALKING TO A SEXY LADY AND U SAY "GOSH" WOW, I REMEMBERED THIS SONG WRONG), and of course "bad day" by daniel powter. I know most of these aren't super in character for derricks music tastes, but i feel that they are popular enough that most people would know them, including derrick, making them decent choices as communication shorthand. born under punches though, i think i nailed it with that one. i wrote this fic bc i remembered "bad day" exists and its such a cheesy sad song that it wraps back around into funny. tragedy and comedy are the same events with different framing.
> 
> Minor edit: changed the word left to right because that’s the direction the passenger seat is actually in when youre in the drivers seat. I still have to look at my hands making Ls to know left and right, and I think that’s a very thembo thing for me to do.


End file.
